


Virtual Reality Is Not A Game

by EchoMoonstone



Category: Sword Art Online, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: All The Avengers Are Younger In This, Angst and Feels, Canon Typical Violence, Collage AU-sort of, Crossover-Sword Art Online, F/M, First crossover, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nerve Gear, Not Beta Read, Slow Build, Suicidal Thoughts, Swords, Tony is Kirtyto, Trigger Warnings, Virtual Reality, its SAO guys, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-04 07:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6646960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoMoonstone/pseuds/EchoMoonstone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sword Art Online, more commonly known as SAO, is quickly buying out. Its a unique full-dive experience never before seen in this kind of gaming. The beta testers of this were defiantly lucky, having only been a thousand of them. And Tony Stark is one of them. He's confidante in his skills, and is sure this time around, he'll be the first person to beat SAO.</p>
<p>~~~<br/>I do not own any Marvel or SAO characters or plot lines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tony Stark glanced around his cluttered room. Of course it was cluttered. He was a 17 year old, going to receive his doctorate tomorrow, MIT student. Why wouldn’t his room be a mess? The young genius sighed and sat down at his computer, pulling up tabs he’d been running all day. They were different news articles all dedicated to the one game Tony actually had any interest in. Sword Art Online. Better known as SOA. It was a full dive game, meaning his conscious was submerged into the coding, and his game avatar recieved all the movement commands his brain gave his body through a helmet looking headset called Nerve Gear.

SAO hadn’t even hit the market yet, except for the beta testers, of which there were only 1,000 in the entire world. Being one of the richest kids in the world had its perks when it came to stuff like that, though. Tony sighed and lay down on his bead and put on his Nerve Gear. Today was the day the game finally went public, and Tony wanted to be sure he wasn’t caught in the first crowd rush to get to know the game. The brunet rolled his eyes at the thought and powered up his headset, noticing the blinking light that said it was ready for use. Tony sent a quick text to Rhodey saying he was about to log on, before placing his head on his pillow.

“Link Start!” Tony said firmly into the air, and he was greeted by the familiar sensation of his conscious being moved into the digital world, a sensation Tony had quickly taken a liking to, though it caused most people to feel nauseous. The game information was brought up, and Tony signed in to SAO, using his beta testing data and info to get in. Then, he was greeted by sensation in his body. Tony blinked, and stared around the courtyard, smiling. He was back. Back in this wonderful world where everything was as simple as swinging a sword and killing monsters. 

Nearly five seconds later, 10,000 more gamers logged on, and it began a new era in each of those players lives. 

*-*-*  
Tony walked through the crowds with confidence. This was his world. A world where he wasn’t Anthony Edward Stark, son of the famous billionaire weapons designer, or the youngest student to graduate MIT summa cum laude, or soon to be. Here, he was just another player. His avatar was tall and lean, with long, dark black hair in similar color to his own, but reaching almost to his shoulders. His eyes were gold, and his outfit in dark shades of black and deep maroon. Nope. He wasn’t Tony Stark here. He was just another player, trying to figure out the game. 

Tony strode through the crowd, and turned down a unpopulated alleyway, breathing deeply. His thoughts were disturbed, however, when a “Hey, wait!” was called out from behind him. 

Tony turned, to see a dark skinned player standing in front of him, hands on his knees. “Your fast, ya know?” The player said, looking up.

Tony just shrugged. “Can I help you?” He asked, trying to keep a straight face at the guy in front of him. 

The player stood up quickly, “Oh, yea. I haven’t ever played a game like this before, so I was wondering if you could show me the ropes. You looked pretty confident walking around, so I thought I’d ask.”

Tony smiled, shifting his weight “First full-dive?”

The player smiled “Ya.”

Tony nodded, then stuck out his hand “I’m Tony. Sure I’ll help you!”

The stranger smiled blinked, then burst out laughing and grabbing Tony up in a hug. “Ha! I knew this avatar had to be you. Seriously, Tones? Gold eyes?”

The brunet laughed and hugged back “There you are Rhodey. I thought I would never find you! Ten thousand people to look through, you know.”

Both boys separated and began to walk through the crowd once more. 

“You know, this is pretty cool. When you explained the full dive experience, I never thought it’d be this life like!”

Tony smiled at his friend's amazement. “I told you it couldn’t really be explained. So, I know it’s only been ten minutes, but have you done anything yet?’

Rhodey just looked at Tony “Nothing besides looking for you.”

Tony’s grin grew. “Well then. I guess it’s time I showed you the ropes! I told you having a beta tester as a friend would be awesome.”

“And I never denied it. I’m just not sure how you managed to keep up with school and this. What level did you say you made it to, again?”

“10. But I almost made it to the eleventh floor.” 

Rhodey smiled and the pair continued walking. “Hey, where are we going?”

“Out into the fields.” Tony replied, smiling. “I figure since this is your first dive, you’d want to see the fighting style. 

Rhodey smiled back and nodded eagerly, looking around with that ultra cute look all first divers had when they arrived in the game.

Tony led Rhodey through the city, ending up in the grass lands filled with small boar like creatures that grazed and only attacked when provoked. Tony swiftly found a small herd of the animals, and stopped moving, pulling up his player information with a swipe of his hands. Since he logged in with his beta account, he still had all his data. That included his weapons.

Tony pulled up a skinny, two-handed sword and gave it to Rhodey, who looked surprised at the offer. Taking the sword, Rhodey looked around and spotted a boar animal.

“Now here’s what you want to do.” Tony spoke up as Rhodey took a ready stance. “In this game, there’s no magic, but there are sword skills, which pretty much make up for that. To activate them, you take a starting stance, wait for the blade to start glowing, then attack. The game pretty much makes sure you hit your target every time you start up a skill, so you're covered there, as I’ve explained before.”

“Since you obviously know what you're doing, you wanna demonstrate these sword skills you mentioned?”

Tony smiled, and summoned his own broad sword from the last time he’d logged in. “Why not? It’ll be a chance to show off.” he leered, before taking his ready stance, which had him holding his sword in his right hand pointed towards the boar creature, and his left hand raised above his head for balance. Then, his sword lit up, and Tony smiled. 

Rushing forward, he let out a shout and twisted, hitting the boar. The creature squealed, and turned to face him, a red line showing where Tony’s blade had hit the boar. The animal’s HP lowered to orange level, and Tony smiled. He finished the boar off with three more swift strokes, dodging the boar’s weak attempts to fight back. Or at least, weak to Tony. The boar collapsed, and Tony’s reward flashed up, giving him a small amount of XP and some meat.

Rhodey clapped as Tony turned “Your turn,” Tony said, putting his sword into the holder he had strapped across his back. 

Rhodey nodded, and stepped towards a boar creature. “So, just, ready stance?” he asked with an air of nervousness. 

“Uh-huh” Tony nodded “Everyone has their own, so just do what feels natural. And don’t be nervous, Rhodey. It’s not like you can actually die.”

Rhodey nodded, smiling, and positioned his blade double-handed at the level of his face, his hands above his right shoulder. Tony nodded at the stance and leaned against a small boulder beside him. Rhodey gasped excitedly when the blade by his ear lit up, and he launched forward with a cry. Tony watched, amused, as his best friend took down his first full-dive monster. The XP icon popped up in front of Rhodey, and he smiled excitedly, hands on his knees. 

“That was pretty hard. What kind of animals are these?” He asked between breaths. 

“Meh, they're just some average run of the mill monsters. They’re like slimes in other games.” 

Rhodey looked up at the answer. “Really?” he asked “I thought it was like, a mid level boss or something.”

Tony screwed up his face “Nah, those are way harder. It’s different, playing full dive, isn’t it?”

Rhodey nodded, then looked at the sword in his hands. “Do you mind if I…?

“Nah, you keep it.” Tony said, amused “It’s a piece of shit anyway, and you don’t have any weapons.”

“Well, if it’s as bad as you say…”

“Oh, just keep it.”

The two laughed and Tony got up from leaning against the rock. They spent the rest of the day wandering around the grasslands and killing any boar creatures they came upon. Soon enough, the sun was setting in the distance, causing the sky to go flame red. Tony and Rhodey sat down on a hill overlooking Aincrad, the name of the digital world they were in.

“This really is awesome.” Rhodey admitted. “Now that I’ve experienced this, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to playing normal mode. I couldn’t stand it. Full-dive is way to amazing!”

“Told you so. And you know I could have just bought the Nerve Gear set for you, instead of watching you slave away, under your own orders not to buy you the thing!”

“I told you. I don’t want to steal your money. I don’t want you to feel obligated to buy anything for me. That’s not why we’re friends.”

Tony just smiled. That’s why Rhodey was his best, and only, friend. He didn’t want to be with Tony just for his father, or his company he’s supposed to inherit, or his money. Rhodey just enjoyed Tony’s company, which Tony still wasn’t sure how that had happened.

“Hey” Rhodey said, breaking Tony’s thoughts. “Are we still on for pizza tonight?”

“Yes, of course. That’s the only downside of this game. The food actually isn’t real! And besides, we need to celebrate your first full-dive experience!”

“When is it supposed to come, anyway?”

Tony pulled up his clock and narrowed his eyes. “Oops. It’s supposed to be at my place in 5 minutes, if the delivery guy is actually on time.”

“I guess we should log out then.” Rhodey said, pulling up his player info, a smirk on his face. “Wait, how do you log out?”

Tony glanced over at Rhodey’s player info. “It should just be right there.” Tony frowned, pulling up his own info. “Right under weapons is usually where it is…”

Rhodey’s eyes widened “You think it’s just a bug?” 

“Probably.” Tony said, a small amount of worry growing in him. “Maybe try the game master?”

“He isn’t responding.” Rhodey growled, pressing on the ‘help’ button repeatedly. “There’s no way to get out of a VRMMO besides the logout button, is there.”

Tony shook his head “The nerve gear intercepts all signals from your brain and brings them hear. Somebody else could take off the Nerve Gear, forcing a logout, but besides that…”

Rhodey perked up at this, “So we have a chance to-”

He was cut off as both boys were teleported to the login courtyard, and by the looks of it, so were the other 10,000 people in the game. Murmurs of confusion rose up into the air from the thousands of people. Tony looked around, studying everything. Then, the sky above them burst into pixelated ‘Warning’ signs, coloring the sky a dark red. Then, the gamemaster appeared. 

He was wearing a maroon cloak and hood and appeared to have no legs. His face was covered, but it wouldn't help to see who the man was. 

“Greetings, players of SAO!” the man said, spreading his arms widely. “Welcome to Aincrad, your home for the foreseeable future.”

“Man, he looks like trouble.” Rhodey said from beside Tony.

Tony only nodded, the man’s words started a cold chill running down his back, and he scowled up at the man. “As many of you have noticed, their is a icon missing from your player info screen. The logout button.”

Anyone who hadn't seen the missing icon hurriedly pulled up their info, and cries of protest filled the air. The game master held up his hand, and silence fell on the crowd. “Now, you should all know, my name is Ultron, creator of the Nerve Gear, and Sword Art Online. Another thing you should know, is that you are trapped here in Aincrad. At least, until someone clears floor 100. But that's not the key information here. No the real stuff is this.”

The man waved his hand, and several news articles appeared. “Now, you see, some people have already figured this out, on the account of their families. If your Nerve Gear is removed with outside influence, it will send a concentrated microwave deep into your brain, and it will literally melt out of your ears.” 

Startled silence fell upon the crowd, then screams as the information processed. Tony merely stood still, eyes narrowed up at Ultron as Rhodey stiffened beside him.

“That’s not all though,” Ultron said, voice magnified so it could be heard over the cries of terror. “In addition to your friends or family being unable to remove the headset without death happening, if you die in this game, you die in the real world. Then Nervegear will do the exact same thing as if it was removed. It will fry your brain, and you will die.”

This information shocked Tony deeply. How were they supposed to clear all 100 floors and never once die?

“It’s not possible” Rhodey asked beside Tony, looking up at the sky “The Nervegear can’t actually do that, right?”

Tony’s face was set in a grim expression “It actually can. The Nervegear operates on low frequency microwaves. I would know, I took mine apart and put it back together, as you watched. If this guy has access to the helmets, then he could crank up the output of microwaves and literally melt your brain, just like he said would happen. I don’t think he’s lying, judging by the news reports he’s got up.”

Rhodey’s eyes flicked to the new reels running, and his face paled slightly. “320 people?” He whispered, eyes wide. “That's, that's.”

“Yeah.” Tony agreed, eyes glimmering “I think we’re stuck here.”

Their attention was drawn back to Ultron when he held out his hands again. “In addition to this news, I also won’t tolerate lying about your form in this game. In your inbox, you will all notice an item. Pull it out.”

Everyone did, and bright flashed filled up the courtyard, followed by confused screams. Tony looked down at his item, which was a mirror, and gasped. Looking back at him was his own face. His real, actual face. He was once again Anthony Edward Stark, not just Tony. He dropped his mirror to the ground and looked around. Similar reactions were happening all throughout the courtyard. 

“I give the best of luck to you, players of SAO.” Ultron drawled above them “I hope enough of you survive the 100 floors to escape.”

And with that, he was gone in a flash, along with the dark red signs and new reels, leaving everyone in the barely lit dusk. Tony looked over to Rhodey, who looked once more like his college friend.His eyes were a dark brown, almost black unlike the light honey color they had been on his avatar. 

Tony looked down at himself, feeling exposed. He was still in his black and dark red getup, but he was slightly shorter, and his hair reached to his ears, not shoulders. Tony suspected his eyes had also changed to their natural brown color, leaving him to look very much like Tony Stark.

“How does that guy even know our face and body type?” Rhodey said out loud, looking at his hands. 

Tony thought a moment. “Oh, you know when you first get the Nervegear, you have to calibrate it?”

Rhodey nodded, so Tony continued. “Well, that’s how they got our body type. And the face is easy. There’s a camera in the Nervegear headset.”

Tony nodded, then turned around and headed to on the exits of the courtyard. 320 people, dead. How could anyone possibly do that? And why? He wrinkled his nose at the thought. 

“Hey, where you goin?” Rhodey shouted behind him. Tony continued walked, and he heard Rhodey swear and run to catch up to him. Tony continued until there were almost no people, then turned to face Rhodey. 

“The best plan of action would be to continue to the next town. These fields will be hunted out by dawn, and this is an xp race in the beginning. If we go to the next town then no one will be there, and we’ll have free range to do what we need.” 

“Tony, shouldn’t we stay and-”

“What are we supposed to do, huh?” Tony asked, cutting his friend off.

“I don’t know.”

Tony nodded. “How about this.” He pulled up his player info, and went into all the data he had collected on the game so far. He loaded it quickly into a file, and sent it to Rhodey. A blue icon appeared in front of his friend, and he looked up at him.

“What is this?”

“All the data I’ve got on the game so far. You should take it. Make it into booklets, and hand them out. I’ll head to the next village and start collecting for both of us, ya? We’ll meet up as soon as I get back.”

Rhodey looked at Tony, then down to the icon in front of him. “Why not-”

“I’ve already explained. This is an xp race in the beginning. Right now, thousands of people are rushing out there. I should be the one to go out there for us, since I’m more experienced. Make sense?”

Rhodey’s eyes narrowed, before he nodded and collected the icon. “Fine. I’ll do what I can. When should we meet back up?”

Tony smiled. “I’ll message you.”

The two nodded at each other, before clasping hands in a hug.

“Don’t die out there, Tones.”

“Same to you”

And with that, the brunette turned and started running to the next town, leaving his friend to make sure everyone else got the same info he had on the game. 

It’s not a game anymore, Tony thought to himself as the Sun disappeared beneath the horizon, causing stars to pop out. If you die here, it’s over. All over. 

Tony slowed his pace and stood in the middle of the road, contemplating this. He would survive, Tony though firmly. As would Rhodey. They both would. Tony started running again. He had made it to the highest floor in the beta tester group. He had the best experience, him and maybe three others. He was going to do this. He was going to live through this. 

Tony crowed and pumped his legs harder, making the wind rush in his face. Tony killed any animal he came upon and finally made it to the yet to be inhabited next town. “Starks are made of iron” echoed through Tony’s head as he slowed down, taking in his surroundings. 

“Yes we are, dad.” Tony said into the silence, smiling bitterly “Yes we are.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thanks so much for the positive feedback! Hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

“I can not believe you went and joined the military.” 

“Can we drop it. Please? It’s been nearly three weeks since I did it, and you're still griping about it. What was I supposed to do after I got the guide books out, huh?”

Tony rolled his eyes at his friend, who was now dressed up in a long draping trench coat in the familiar dark green used in the military in the outside world. They were on their way to a meeting about the first floor boss. Tony was peeved at the fact that it had been a month since the whole ‘great, now we're stuck here’ fiasco and 2,000 people had died inside the game. Part of what Tony had been doing on his two week separation from his best friend had been looking for the boss. Apparently, the gamemaster or masters, or whatever, had decided to change that little detail.

“I don’t know, Rhodey, wait for me to get back? I was almost here when I got the message ‘Joined Military Guild. Can quit anytime, I’m just bored.” His voice held no fire towards his friend, though.

“Well, I was. After I got your data to a printing store and handed out, like, a thousand copies, someone else showed up and did the same thing. And it was boring! So I just went and joined up. I wanted someone to cover me on quests, and you were halfway around the world for all I knew!’

Tony scrunched up his face at that. “Alright, I could have kept you better updated. But I was being productive, and following the plan we agreed on. And how many lives do you think you saved with getting those guide books out?”

Rhodey glared at him, and quickened his pace through the stone lined streets leading to a large theater of sorts where a bunch of volunteers were gathering. He picked up his pace to match Rhodey’s to give his friend a shove on the shoulder. “Ah, come on. You only give me that look when you’re annoyed because I’m right. And look, I’m still here, aren't I? And now you’ve got some of my xp, and some of yours, and everything's good!”

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to rub it in my face. Just, I really don’t want you to have to go off alone like that again.”

“Do you forget? I am a very experienced player.”

“Damn it Tony, experienced doesn’t make you invincible!” Rhodey said, turning to the smirking brunette. “It would be absolutely dumb and stupid to die in this place because of your ego.”

Tony rolled his eyes again “Honey bunches, I ain’t going anywhere.”

The two friends reached the meeting place, an amphitheater, with a flat platform at the bottom of a bunch of rows of benches like the ones commonly found at high schools. People were settling into seats, and both Tony and Rhodey took a nearly vacant row midway down. One man sat a little ways a way, wearing a deep blue cloak that covered his face. More and more people filled in and sat down, talking amongst themselves. This went on until at least fifty had showed up. Then a man dressed in a formal looking suit and tie like uniform thing with armor covering his shoulders and chest walked in through a side door. On his hip, a two handed sword rested in its sheath.

“Alright, since we’re all here, I suggest this meeting should start.” He said, looking up into the crowd, who quieted once the man began to talk. “My name is Coulson, and I’ve called this meeting for a very specific reason. Me and my guild have found the boss.”

Surprise whipped people into hushed whispers until Coulson raised his hand. “Now, I know that this is big news, but please pay attention. We found the boss inside the tower, off to the east. Since this obviously isn’t a normal boss raid, I suggest everyone gets into teams of six. We don’t want any casualties in this fight, needless to say.”

“Well, it seems like this guy seems to know what he’s doing, at least.” Tony said, raising an eyebrow. “And I’d like to know how they found the boss. I mean, did they just wander into the boss room, or what?”

“Tony, you’re not the only one in this game who was a beta tester. I’m sure some other people know how to handle themselves just as well as you.”

“Ha! As if.” Tony paused, then smiled “Hello there, complete stranger. Would you like to be in a party with mwah?”

Rhodey just rolled his eyes “We already are, Tony.”

“Toche”

The amphitheater was filled with the sounds of people joining up in parties. Tony glanced around to find the man in the blue cloak seemed to be looking around, a little bit lost. Tony sighed and nudged Rhodey. “Hey, that guy looks super alone. Should we…?”

Rhodey looked over to where Tony had pointed, then nodded “Why not? You need to know more than one person in this world anyway.”

Tony smiled and scooted over to the man, sword on his back shifting as the sudden movement. The man seemed to start at Tony’s sudden appearance. 

“Hey, do you want to join our party?” Tony asked, gesturing behind him to Rhodey. “You look a bit alone, and there’s only two of us in our current one.”

The man leaned back a bit before replying “Oh, I don’t want to be a bother-”

“Nonsense” Tony cut in “Honestly, if you want to go fight the boss, then you better not do it alone. It’s not a very good strategy. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

The man quirked his lips up, the only thing visible from under his cloak hood “As it would seem. Are you sure it wouldn’t be a bother?”

Tony smiled at the guys politeness. “I’m sure.” He then pulled up his player info and sent a party request to the man, who accepted it, offering a grateful smile. His name appeared under Tony’s party list as Steve. Rhodey grinned and scooted over to where Tony and Steve were sitting. 

“Rhodey” he said, offering his hand “I’m the other member of our party.”

Steve shook his hand, smiling. “Steve.”

Their attention was drawn back to the guy in the courtyard “So, I see you’re all in a party! I suggest we go over the plans to-”

“Wait just a minute!” A cry came from the top of the amphitheatre stairs. “Before we do anything, I’ve got some things to say!”

Coulson sighed as everyone turned to see a man jump down the stairs four at a time and land heavily in the courtyard surrounded by stairs. “My names Clint, and I’d like to get something off my chest before we do this. You all know about the 2,000 deaths, yea? Well I think some of you owe those players an apology!”

Everyone shifted, glaring at the guy. Tony felt a small prick of ice settle at the base of his spine at the guy’s outburst. Rhodey lay a hand on Tony’s shoulder 

“Don’t do anything stupid, Tones. This guy's just venting.” Rhodey reassured him quietly, aware of the practical stranger sitting next to them.

“Clint, I’ve told you. It wasn’t their fault.” Coulson said, clutching the bridge of his nose as the Clint guy came to stand beside him.

Clint glared at Coulson “The day this stupid game started up, all the beta testers up and vanished, leaving us new guys to fend for ourselves. They took all the good hunting grounds and quests, sucking up the xp like it was nothing. They were the only one’s getting stronger in this stupid game. They just ignored us like we were absolutely nothing. Hell, you know what? I bet there are some of them here, in this very courtyard. Come out and show yourselves! I think you should give up all your winnings, and your money! Spread it out fair!”

Rhodey’s grasp on Tony’s shoulder tightened, and he got a fierce look in his eye.

The crowd shifted, small conversations erupting in groups. 

“Can I say something?” A girl asked, raising her hand.

Coulson nodded swiftly, looking at her. 

“The way I see it, you want the ex-beta testers to come out and give up all their hard earned cash and winnings, because some rookies died? Really Clint.I thought you were better than this.” 

It was obvious that they knew each other. 

“Well,” she said, standing up. “You know these?” the girl asked, holding up a book.

Tony got a thrill of recognition at the sight of the little book. 

“Of course I do.” Clint replied. “They’re the guide books.”

The girl nodded “And do you know who was handing these books out on the very first day?”

Clint shook his head, still watching the girl. 

The woman turned to the crowd, holding the book high so everyone could see them “These books were being handed out by the ex-beta testers. Everyone had equal access to this information. And still, a lot of people died. That’s not the beta tester’s faults. That’s the people who died trying to bite off more than they could chew, nothing else. Do you still think the beta testers are to blame, Clint?”

Clint shook his head again and looked at the floor, walking back to his seat. 

“Thank you Natasha” Coulson said, running a hand through his hair. 

Tony watched with interest, the mild guilt he felt over being a beta tester melting away in a reliving way. “I bet they’re all part of the guild that found the boss.”

Rhodey nodded, his grip loosened on Tony’s shoulder. “Yup. And to think. Those booklets came about by your suggestion.”

Tony smiled “Told you they were a good idea.”

Coulson turned back to the crowd. “Since that’s all taken care of, anything else?”

Everyone shook their heads, and Tony relaxed into his seat. Steve seemed to have noticed his discomfort, but said nothing. 

“Alright, so, all the info on the boss can be found in the latest edition of the very guide book you just heard about.” Coulson said, pulling out a small book matching Natasha’s. Everyone nodded, and Coulson continued. “The boss's name is A.I.M, short for Advanced Idea Mechanics. This particular boss has minions who work on a hive mind, and follow orders from the leading AIM creature. Now, AIM is said to carry an axe, and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved, sword type weapon called a tohar. He can change his pattern of attacks, too.”

This was met by mumbles of surprise, and Tony leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms.

“That’s it for the briefing.” Coulson announced, closing his book firmly. “As for the distribution of any loot, any money gained will be distributed evenly, and the group that kills the boss gets the xp. Anyone who gets an item gets to keep it. Sound fair?”

Everyone nodded, and Coulson smiled. “Great! We leave tomorrow at 10 o’clock sharp, so don’t be late!”

Everyone took that as the sign to leave and stood up, starting to socialize. Tony sighed and looked at Rhodey, who had his chin propped in his hands. The brunet sighed and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. 

“Well, that was interesting” Steve said from beside them, standing up as well.

“So it was” Tony replied, reaching to adjust his sheath strap across his chest. 

Rhodey looked up from where he was sitting “Yup. And that Clint guy was a total jerk. But alas, that maledy cannot be cured.” He stood up, and rested his hand upon his sword hilt casually. 

Steve smiled. “The truth if ever I heard it. If you’ll excuse me. I expect I’ll see you two tomorrow, then?”

Tony smirked “Yup.” then he imitated Coulson “10 o’clock sharp! Don’t be late!”

“I don’t plan to be” Steve replied with a smirk before setting off, following the stream of people leading to the center of town.

Tony looked at Rhodey “There. I have successfully met more than just you in this place.”

Rhodey rolled his eyes and slung an arm around Tony’s shoulder. “I never said you couldn’t.”

The pair laughed as they headed to where they had a hotel room, in the center of town. 

Soon enough, the sun set, and the lanterns in the town were lit. Rhodey had gone stayed in their room, saying he was turning in for the night, and warning Tony to do the same. The now alone ex-beta tester was walking around the courtyard. People milled around the large, turquoise fountain in the centre of the clearing, talking and laughing. Tony looked around and spotted a very solitary looking Steve, who was struggling to eat the hard travel bread people carried around. He headed over to him, smiling. “Mind if I sit down?”

Steve shook his head and looked down at the roll, or at least, Tony thought he did. Steve’s hood was still up, so Tony had yet to see Steve’s face.”We meet again” Tony said, lounging next to Steve. “Ya know, I’ve got a trick to make those taste better, if you want.” He smirked, eyeing Steve.

“Oh yea? And what could you possibly do to make these bricks taste anything but what they actually are?” Steve asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

“Use this.” Tony said simply, summoning up an item. 

Steve watched curiously as a small jar appeared in front of Tony, which fell into Tony’s waiting hands. 

“Here, try some of this on those.” Tony said, offering the little jar. 

Steve hesitated for a moment, then held out his hand, and Tony poured out a golden liquid into Steve’s palm, which then caused the jar to break into little triangle pieces of code and fly away. Steve carefully applied the liquid onto his roll and took a bite. Everything was still for a moment, and Tony half-wondered if Steve was lagging. Then, Steve hurriedly bit into the little gray roll and it was gone in an instant. Tony muffled a laugh, and smiled at Steve.

“You’re right” Steve admitted, brushing crumbs off his hands. “That makes this taste way better.” 

Tony smiled “I got it from the Hefferstrife’s back, which the quest in the village before you get here, just if you’re interested”

Steve nodded, and stood up. “Good to know. But I’m not really here for the food.”

Tony nodded. “It’s kinda weird it's even here. I mean, We don’t really even need to eat it. The feeling of being full probably comes from whatever feeding machine they’ve got us on.”

Steve merely nodded, seemingly thoughtful, before standing up “Well, this has been great, but we should probably get some rest. Big day tomorrow.”

Tony nodded, smiling at the similarity to what Rhodey had said to him, and stood up also, offering his hand. “See you tomorrow, teammate.” 

“See you tomorrow,” echoed Steve, shaking Tony’s hand.

Tony smiled and looked up at the sky when Steve left. Small stars poked out of the darkness, blotted out by the villages lights. Tony sighed and headed to his and Rhodey’s room in the inn, taking in the surroundings. Worse places to get trapped in, Tony thought as he walked up the stairs. Way worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, whatd'ya think? And with Steve's weapon, should he have a rapier and totally rule that, or his traditional shield? Say what you think. As alway, kudos and critic are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, thanks so much for the enthusiasm! This is my first fic, and I'm glad you all enjoy it. Now, I should have put this on the tags, in the begining, but there might be some Phil Coulson/Clint Barton if you look into it. Also, this chapter is super long, so fair warning. Hope you enjoy!

Everyone in the attack group walked through the forest trees, heading to the tower that contained the boss room. The trees flickered and waved in a small breeze, and the light filtering through the serrated leaves was a light green, causing the surroundings to feel peaceful. Tony knew it was a lie, though. Monsters of any kind could be lurking at every corner, just waiting to attack the large group of players. 

Tony shook his head and glanced over at Steve, who was still in his cloak and hood, looking at the ground, walking beside Rhodey, on Tony’s left. Tony looked him over, smiling. He had an excellent body type, from what Tony could tell. He wished he could just see the muscles that so obviously bulged from the guy.

“What’s our battle plan?” Steve asked, disturbing Tony’s thoughts.

Tony shook his head and looked at Steve, then smirked “Attack?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes, before turning to Steve “Well, we’ll need to follow Coulson’s directions, but besides that, I suggest he“ he pointed to Tony “ attack first, then me and you take turns switching out after he gets a few hits in. Same for me for you, you egotistical rascal.” he said, smirking at his friend “That’ll make it so these AIM minions will get confused easily, and we can take them out without much harm to ourselves.”

“Sounds like a plan” Steve replied “How do you switch out?”

The question stopped both Tony and Rhodey dead in their tracks 

“Wait, you don’t know how to switch out?!”Tony exclaimed, exasperated. 

Steve just shrugged and continued his pace. Tony rolled his eyes and sped up to draw even with his party member. The rest of the walk was mostly Tony, explaining how to switch out in the middle of battle, with Rhodey butting in occasionally to make more sense of Tony’s explanation, and silence. 

“Hey, what is your weapon, by the way?” Tony asked as the group of players reached their destination, a tall reaching black structure with flame torches on either side of a large stone set of doors.

Steve just shrugged, and Rhodey gave Tony a confused look at the response. Most players flaunted their weapons, on account of them showing off your skill level and set.

Coulson turned to the group and smiled “This is just a boss raid. Follow the normal boss raid plan you use in any other game, just don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to see losses today”

Everyone gave fervente nods, and Coulson turned to open the door. The large, opal and purple doors opened without a sound, and Tony freed his broad sword from its sheath on his back. A large gust of wind hit everyone’s faces, smelling putrid and sour. Tony scrunched up his face in distaste, and glared at the dark hole now open to the world. 

Torches lit up with a whoosh, revealing a long hallway. Everyone shifted uneasily.

“Now, the boss room is at the end of this hallway. Prepare yourselves.” Coulson said, taking lead of the group and walking into the hallway. 

Everyone nodded and followed Coulson’s lead, weapons drawn. Tony glanced over at Steve who was still in his cloak, though a circular shield had become strapped to his back “Aren’t you gonna, you know, get your weapon out?” Tony asked, surprised.

“I will.” Steve said mysteriously. 

Tony just shrugged and continued walking, shifting his grip on his broad sword. Rhodey covered his right flank, katana ready, Steve his left, still looking unarmed. Soon, the group reached the end of the hall, and Coulson pushed the door open softly. Darkness greeted them, plus a substantial upgrade to the smell in the hall. Some people gagged involuntarily before the first lights in the boss room went up. Everyone carefully walked in, separating into their own parties. 

Suddenly, the rest of the torches lit up to and the roaring AIM was revealed. Tony remembered it well. The beast was mostly yellow, but had black stripes running up its torso. Its snouted face bared its sharp, ragged teeth in a sneer. In AIM’s taloned paws, it held a large axe and shield, just like the guidebook said. AIM roared again and little minions appeared, shrieking and squawking as they ran towards the players. 

Tony took a ready stance with his broadsword and activated a sword skill, yelling as he ran at the small minions. He quickly dodged under its weak attack and slashed upwards. The minion squeaked as its health bar dropped to the orange level, then threw a quick slash with its sword towards Tony’s face. He deflected it easily and finished off the small minion. Five more approached him, and he smiled. 

“Switch!” Tony called out, activating the skill.

Steve rushed forward before Rhodey could, sword drawn from underneath his cloak. Rapier. Tony realized And he said he was a newb. Those take serious agility and speed levels to properly wield. 

Steve quickly finished off the minions, and switched out with Rhodey. Other groups were doing the same and soon enough, the minions were gone. AIM took a ready stance, eyes glowing red at the absence of its minions. No casualties so far. Everyone started attacking their designated areas, and Tony found joy in swiping carefully at the large boss. AIM’s heath bars quickly dropped, till he was on his last one. Everyone stood back as AIM dropped its current weapon and reached behind its back, new weapon appearing behind him. Tony reeled as he watched the weapon appear. That's not a tohar he thought with growing despair. Closely related, the sword AIM now held was nearly indistinguishable from the traditional tohar. But it wasn't one. It was a completely different attack sequence, one that someone who hadn’t made it to at least floor seven would be prepared for. Suddenly, Coulson lept forward, shouting.

“Wait!” Tony screamed out, watching as AIM took a different stance than the guide book suggested. 

Either Coulson didn’t hear the warning, or he ignored it. He continued forward, sword raised. AIM reared, lashing out with the not-tohar so fast Tony could barely see it, and Coulson went flying. Tony shouted and ran over to the fallen player, ignoring the sounds of resumed battle with AIM. The brunet kneeled down beside Coulson, pulling out a healing potion as he did. 

“No, don’t waste it.” Coulson gasped, his health bar steadily falling towards the end. “You, you were a beta tester, weren’t you. You saw the change in attack.”

Tony nodded, a lump in his throat.

Coulson nodded “So was I. Man, that was so stupid. Just like the boss on floor seven huh?” Tony nodded again, numbly watching Coulson’s health bar drop lower and lower. “Listen, you need to watch out for them. I heard you shout the warning. You knew what AIM would do. Finish him off-” He was cut off as he started coughing, health bar now almost depleted. 

“Good luck.” He whispered, blinking slowly as his health bar dipped ever lower. 

Tony refused to believe it. Just before Coulson’s health bar completely disappeared, he ignored the fellow ex-beta testers protest and poured the healing potion across his body. Screw the game code. And screw keeping it for himself. Coulson’s eyes widened before he passed out, his health bar a mere half centimeter above death. Tony slumped back, relieved that the man hadn’t burst into pieces of code yet, though it wasn’t guaranteed, before grabbing his sword and turning to AIM. The attack group had lost at least ten players. Everyone who was still alive was in retreat, expect for the man who bitched about beta testers, who was firing arrows at the boss, the woman who defended the beta testers, attacking with long knives, a tall, muscular blonde man with shoulder length hair, wielding a hammer, Rhodey, who’s katana was flashing, and Steve, rapier darting quickly between AIM's blows, a circular shield now on his back. 

“Let’s use the same tactic on the boss as the minions!” Tony shouted to his party members, who backed off and looked at him, before nodding.

The three approached the boss, swords raised. Steve started the attack, and AIM roared, bringing the not-tohar down. Steve barely dodged it as his cloak was mostly torn off. His rapier shattered, code disappearing into the air. Steve cursed, then grabbed his shield and barely caught a blow from AIM, which resounded around the cave boss room like a bell. Tony stood still for millisecond, taking in his partner, whose hood was completely off now. He had blonde hair that shimmered like gold, barely reaching his ears. His deep, blue eyes sparkled like a summer pool, lit with a burning intensity. 

“Switch!” Steve called out, panting, and Tony blinked, cursing his lapse of concentration, then rushed forward. He misjudged AIM’s blow, however, and both him and Steve were knocked to the ground. Rhodey shouted from where he was fighting and began to run forward. But it was too late. AIM approached and raised his sword. Tony closed his eyes, prepared for the blow, when a grunt and a large clash made him open his eyes again. There was the girl, Natasha, who had stood up for beta testers, standing above Steve and him, having just deflected AIM’s blow. 

“Get up!” she shouted over AIM’s roars, who was now distracted by Rhodey, who was slashing quickly at it.

“Now! You two are our best shots at getting alive out of this.” Natasha said, turning back to AIM “I recognize that. Now recover while we hold off AIM.”

They both nodded, then Tony sucked in air and tried to get his heart rate down, letting his health bar reach green again. Steve held his shield in his hand, his face set in a grim line.

“Watch out!” 

Tony looked up as AIM turned and roared at him. Before he could do anything, Steve got in front of him and threw his shield, which curved through the air in a clean arc and hit AIM square in the face, before rebounding and landing in Steve’s hands. He stared at it, a little dumbfounded, while AIM screeched and roared, clutching at its snout, which now had a red line across it. Its health bar dipped ever lower. 

“Thanks, Steve” Tony gasped, closing his eyes at the sudden rush of more adrenaline through his system. He opened them just to see someone break into code in their friends arms. 

Rage began to course through him. He was stuck in this game, people had died, and that knowledge suddenly seemed to catch up with him. His vision went red, and he ignored Rhodey’s calls, running at the boss, sword raised high. In a defying act of speed, he ducked under the not-tohar's reach, receiving a cut on his cheek, which he ignored. His sword hit AIM’s midsection, and Tony’s momentum carried him forward, and as his body preformed familiar attack sequences, his sword cut clean through the boss. Tony came to a stop with a whoosh of air, hand and knee on the ground, broadsword held in a finishing stance above his head, which was bowed. Behind him, AIM screeched and exploded into little triangles. In front of Tony a holographic rectangle appeared, contained the words “Final Hit” with an accept button below it. 

Cheers erupted through the room as a gateway appeared, allowing access to the second floor. Tony felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see an astonished looking Rhodey smiling. Tony looked around. He spotted people with their hands in their faces, some with others counseling them, some without, kneeling at a spot where someone they cared about had probably died. Coulson still lay off to the side. At the sight of the not dead man, Tony felt as if a weight had been lifted, if only a small one. At least he’d been able to save someone. He looked back up at the Final Hit icon and reached forward, pressing accept. Midnight Coat, it read, which Tony stared at for a moment, before stowing it away in his inventory.

“Come on, Tones, we won!” Rhodey said, seeming to notice the geniuses distress. “And we probably would have lost more without you. You saved lives!”

Tony looked over to his friend and offered a simple nod in response. So many people had sacrificed their lives, and this was only the first boss. It would only get harder from here.

Suddenly, a cry rang out among the others and Tony’s attention was drawn to the source, which, to his dismay, came from Clint, who was holding Coulson’s hand with a fierce determination. 

Tony went into overdrive then. “Someone get me a healing potion!”

The leftover crowd all looked at him, before a the precious pink liquid was brought forth. Tony grabbed it and ran past, kneeling beside Coulson once more. Clint looked up, as did Natasha, who were both hovering over the man, whose health bar was beginning to dip once more. 

“Give him air” Tony demanded, unstopping the second bottle used for this man. He spread the potion over the ragged breathing, but alive, figure below him. Both Natasha and Clint watched, hope filling their eyes as Coulson’s health bar began to rise again, stabilizing just barely past the red zone. The man gave a shaking breath, and seemed to relax some. Tony slumped, glass bottle shattering in his hand. He felt the burning gaze of Clint on him, but he ignored it. 

“Are you alright?” Steve asked, kneeling beside him. 

Tony looked up at his party member, then offered a small smile “I’m fine. Didn’t even dip into the orange.”

At this, Clint’s eyes hardened. “And I wonder why that is.”

Tony said nothing, glancing back down at Coulson. 

“I seem to recall you shouting at Phil when he attacked. You knew what was going to happen, didn’t you. You were a beta tester.” It wasn’t a question.

Rhodey appeared on Tony’s other side and glared at Clint. Tony only nodded.

“Then this is your fault!” The sandy haired man cried out, pointing a finger at him, despite Natasha’s protests. He turned to the rest of the crowd. “See! I told you. This man could have shared vital input on the boss, but he withheld it! The beta testers are nothing but selfish bastards who seek only to gain!”

Murmurs spread through the room, and angry, hurt glares were pointed in Tony’s direction. 

“Now wait just a minute!” Rhodey said, standing up.

Tony just watched Coulson’s shallow breathing. He might never wake up in the game again. He might never wake up in the real world again. Tony paled at the thought. This brave, selfless man, put in a coma because of him, and he was a beta tester. Tony couldn’t stand the thought of allowing others to tarnish Coulson’s possible deceased memory, and an idea occurred. He stood up, and smirked, then started laughing, hysteria bubbling through as the fight caught up with him. Rhodey tuned to look at him, eyes wide with concern.

“Ha. You think I was just a beta tester?” Tony gasped through the bubbling laughter. “You give them too much credit. They all had an extra month on all of you, and the group standing here before me today is way better than any of them.”

“Tony, what are you doing?” Rhodey said, grabbing his arm “Whatever it is, stop, please. None of the deaths were your fault!!”

Tony ignored his friend, continuing his rant “I’m not one of them. I made it higher than any player. The reason I knew what the boss was about to do because I’ve fought way harder ones. I have more knowledge on this game than any info broker you could ever find. Don’t lump me with those, ‘beta testers’” he scoffed, hysteria still trying to force it’s way out of him. To his left, Steve watched him with an pitying expression, blue eyes seeming to see into his soul. He stood up, leaving Coulson’s side.

Clint expression became that of rage and he pointed a finger at Tony “Then that doesn’t just make you a beta tester. That makes you a cheater.” He paused for a moment “A beater.”

Cries of beater filled the air. Tony smiled. There. No beta tester would be resented in that way again, hopefully. The hatred would turn to the ‘beaters’.

“Tony, don’t” Rhodey hissed, a desperate look on his face.

“Yeah, a beater” Tony sneered, using all the facade he had learned from being in the spotlight his entire life. He knew Rhodey could see right through it. “I like it. Separates me from those newbs.” Tony stood up and swiped his hand, summoning his inventory. He clicked on the Coat of Midnight, and it appeared on him in a flash. It was a dark black, with deep maroon lining its border, with small speckles of gold flecked across the fabric. It was very intimidating. The crowd gasped at the sight of him.

Tony pointedly looked at Rhodey, then at Coulson, trying to get him to see what he was doing. Rhodey narrowed his eyes at the brunet, before realization hit him and his eyes filled with sadness, and he nodded. 

“So you admit to this?” Natasha asked quietly from besides Clint.

Tony turned to her “Sweetheart, you bet I do. And you better remember it. I’m not a beta tester.” A steely gaze was all he got in return.

Tony waved his hand, then put his sword in its sheath across his back and walked through the crowd. Rhodey followed him, and they both went up the stairs leading to the second floor gateway. 

“Wait” 

Tony turned to see Steve standing in front of him, shield still in hand. 

“You never introduced yourself. He did” he gestured to Rhodey “But not you”

Tony smiled at that, “Didn’t you see my name?”

Steve shook his head, a blush rushing up to touch his ears. Rhodey chuckled from beside Tony at the sight of it. 

“If you look right about here” Tony smiled as he held his hand at about eye level and to the right “You’ll see your name and health bar. Under it, the name and health bar of your party members.”

Steve squinted, then blushed harder and looked down. “Wow. I’m really dumb. It was there the whole time! So your name’s Tony”

Tony smiled, “Don’t wear it out” then his mood fell again “Hey, you can become strong here. That trick with the shield will get you places. Going solo’s great and all, but if someone you trusts offers you a place in a guild, then take it. You need someone to watch your back.”

Rhodey scoffed at this “Ha. Take your own advice, Tony.”

Tony smiled at his best friend then looked back to Steve “Good luck”

The blonde smiled and nodded, and Tony turned around to face the gateway, as did Rhodey.

“Are you sure you want to do this with me?” The brunet asked, looking at swirling portal.

“Man, you’ve almost gotten me arrested more times than I can count.” Rhodey chuckled, throwing an arm around Tony’s shoulders “This is nothing compared to that stunt you pulled last year when you were trying to make ‘scientific discoveries’”

Tony chuckled, “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

And the two friends walked through the portal, starting off the next stage of the game, and the next stage of everyone’s lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Comments? What did you think?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okaay, so, sorry for the longer wait. I've been a little busy. Now, Bruce's guild was mostly based off of Marvel's Agents of S.M.A.S.H. I didn't really like the show, but its characters fit my purpose. And now for the chapter.

“What’dya say? Three cheers for Tony?”

“Hip Hip!”

“Hurray!”

Tony smiled and looked down. “Oh come on. It was really no trouble”

Tony looked back up and observed the five people in front of him. He had been hunting, just trying to pass the time on a lower floor. He had grown weary of the constant resentment directed to him at the front lines, even though he had brought it upon himself. Rhodey had been the only source of comfort these last few months. But his unwavering loyalty, even when he was degraded by others because of his affiliation with Tony, had left the young genius staggering. And Phil still hadn’t woken up yet. All these things had driven Tony away for a short while. Just a night, he had planned. Maybe two. Tony had been hacking away at some creature he barely even gave any attention to and had heard shrieks to the side of him. Barely even thinking about it, he had rushed to this group's rescue, and they were now all in a tavern on some lower floor, celebrating. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir” the tall man with dark brown hair who seemed to be the leader said “I mean, you don’t have to answer, but I was wondering what level you are?”

Oh man. Tony just could not stand how cute, if unnecessary, that was. He then glanced up to the corner of his vision, where his Lvl 40 floated under his name. Tony barely held back a face scrunch. Did he really want them to just see him as a level number? Quickly making a decision Rhodey would have chastised him for he replied easily “Level 20.”

This surprised the man, who did a double take, before awe filled his gaze “Wow, you’re an inspiration sir! Playing solo and all, at the same level as us?” 

Tony smiled warmly, not bothering to correct him. And he technically was a solo player. He and Rhodey weren’t a guild. Rhodey had decided to become part of SHIELD, which stood for something long and lame. It had been the guild that Coulson was head of, until the first boss fight. It was now much larger, and although Tony didn’t much like the heads, it was a guild he could feel comfortable with Rhodey joining. Even though Clint was still a dick. “You can drop the sirs.” Tony said, “Tony’s fine. And it's not very efficient being solo. You always have to watch your own back, and it can be tiresome” 

The man nodded “I’m Bruce. This here is Betty” He said, wrapping an arm around the girl next to him who smiled at Tony “Over there’s Rick” He gestured to a shorter player, who had on a scarf/poncho thing who waved at him “That’s Skarr” pointing to a taller player with black hair reaching his shoulders, who nodded at Tony “And that’s Jennifer. But we all call her Jennie.” The last one in the group, who had her arms crossed, gave Tony a somewhat begrudging smile.  
“I hate to spring this on you all of the sudden.” Bruce said, looking down quickly “But, if you want to, we could really use you in our guild. And even though we all go to the same high school, that wouldn’t exclude you or anything, you know?”He practically gushed.

Tony blinked at the offer. Him, in a guild?

“You wouldn’t be a solo player” Bruce said, looking at him “And maybe you could teach Betty here a few tricks.”

The young Betty poked Bruce, smiling at him “Hey, I’m not that useless!”

Tony smiled at the banter. These people seemed nice, and maybe he could keep them from getting killed, but. He clenched his fists slightly. What if his beater status was found out? Everyone from the guild he had saved looked at him, hope shining in their eyes, and he gave in. “Sure I will!”

“Hurray for Smash’s new guild member!” They all shouted, rushing forward to give the somewhat stunned Tony pats on the back or hugs. He smiled at the affection.

~*^*~

“Reeeeaack” The seven foot tall praying mantis shrieked, rushing forward at the guild. 

Bruce jumped to intercept it, longsword slashing as he landed hits on the monster. The giant bug shrieked, and Bruce called for a switch. Betty ran forward, shield high and sword raised as she attacked the mod. It let out a roar at her attack and raised its large front legs with sharpened points at the end. Tony saw this and called out a switch, barely shoving Betty out of the way and he sliced of the mantises limb. It’s mandibles let out one last squeaking roar before exploding into code. Tony smiled as the xp from the group attack divided itself to each player, based on how many hits they got in. Betty smiled widely as a ‘Level Up!’ icon appeared in front of her and both Skarr and Jennie patted her on the shoulder, all of them admiring the glowing icon. 

Tony smiled, somewhat regretfully, at their happiness over the achievement. It hadn’t been something he and Rhodey had thought about as they leveled up ruthlessly to be able to handle the next mob, the next boss, the next floor. But these people had yet to see the horrors of the front line. They were unburdened, free, happy, almost, in their lives here.

The group went back to the safe area, eating a picnic on its outskirts. Tony lay beside Bruce, who was reading a game announcement on the front line teams, the ones who Tony had last seen were fighting on floor 28. The sky was a deep blue, with large, puffy clouds chasing each other across the the sky. 

“It looks like assault team just cleared Floor 28. That amazing!” Bruce said happily as he sat up, holding the paper in front of him. 

Tony shrugged and bit into a piece of bread. “Does it report any casualties?”

Bruce scanned the paper. “No one died. Some players hit the red, but that was it.”

Tony nodded, relieved. No one had died. At least when he returned, no one could blame him for abandoning them all or something. It was quite funny how everyone who new his status hated him, but still expected him to fight with them all. But that was human nature, Tony mused as he took another bite of bread.

“What do you think they have that we don’t” Bruce asked, laying the paper down and looking at Tony. 

“Access to information” Tony replied without thought. With that, they can find the best ways to get xp and they don’t really share that info to anyone beyond their guild” Hypocrites. 

Bruce lay back down with a sigh. “Ya, I guess you're right. But you know what I think?”

Tony shook his head and bit another piece from his roll.

“I think it’s willpower” 

Tony raised his eyebrow and looked at Bruce, who had become a friend. An actual friend, kind of like Rhodey, besides the fact that he didn’t know Tony’s actual level. “What do you mean?”

Bruce half chuckled and sat back up, looking across the green fields. “Will power. You know? They have the will to stick up for their friends, and even other players, for that matter. I’d like to think we have the same drive.”

Tony barely held back a snort at the ‘assault-teams-look-out-for-anyone-and-everyone’. Which he supposed they did, as long as you weren't a beater, which Tony had been dismayed to hear that he wasn’t the only one catching fire over the whole ex-beta/cheater thing. But three was better than 2,000, he supposed. 

Bruce continued “Even though we still need the assault teams, I’d like to think that we do the same. Our first priority is to look out for each other.” he looked back to the rest of their guild, who were all eating on a raised ledge thing that was part of the stair looking farm thing they were eating at “Maybe one day, when we get strong enough, we can join the elites, be part of the assault team.”

Tony smiled, looking at his hands. “That’s a good goal.”

Bruce looked taken aback at Tony’s comment, and blushed slightly, raising a hand to rub at his head. “Oh, I don’t know. You think so?”

They were interrupted as Jennie jumped down from her spot and approached Bruce from behind. “Oh leader!” She singsonged, before lunging forward and wrapping her arms good naturedly around Bruce’s neck, leaning him back as she ruffled his hair “Give me some love!”

Tony chuckled as Bruce’s arms flailed and he grunted “Stop!” with nothing but happiness in his voice. He liked Bruce. He had big goals, but he was kind, and he didn’t see anyone for less than what they were. Tony smiled at the thought. Smash would be a great addition to the front lines. 

They soon left their little spot and headed back to town where the guild was staying in an inn, near the entrance to the forest. Bruce went off to the Town of Beginnings on the first floor, because their winnings from the last raid they had done was enough to buy a flat. He would be gone for at least a day, so the rest of the guild was free to hang out. Tony decided, as everyone ran off, after declining an invitation to go with them, to visit Rhodey. So he checked his best friends location and teleported away. He then began to search the floor for his friend, following a map to his position. By the time he found his best friend, the sun had set, and only the stars gave light to see where he was going. 

Tony walked up to the lip of a ridge, peering down into a small valley. In it, Rhodey was leading an attack, katana flaring with light as he engaged sword skill after sword skill. The mob gave a squeal on his last hit and turned to run, the members of Rhodey’s party following after it. Rhodey panted, hands on his knees. Tony watched, amused as his friend looked up, a light sheen of sweat on his brow. 

“Come on, bro!” Tony called, smirking “You couldn’t finish that off?”

Rhodey looked for a bit, then found Tony standing on the ridge. “Oh, screw you!” He called back before walking towards him. Tony did the same, and they met in the middle. Rhodey did a double take at he narrowed his eyes at a spot just above his head. “Do my eyes deceive me? Has the great Tony Stark finally joined a guild?”

Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms “Maybe. So what if I did?”

Rhodey looked astounded, before grinning and clasping Tony on the back “No complaints here, Tones. No complaints here. I’m glad someone will be able to watch your back without me leaving SHIELD. Which I would still do for you in a heartbeat, man.” 

Tony smiled warmly “I know Rhodey. So, how’re things on the front lines in my absence?”

Rhodey smiled “Oh, they’re fine. No one died that last boss raid, though we could have used you, man.”

Tony shrugged. “I just needed a break is all.”

Rhodey nodded “Like I said, no complaints here. It was kind of funny as we entered the boss room. Barton was definitely looking for someone, but everyone who attended the meeting beforehand had shown up.”

Tony smirked “Aww, little birdy missed me?” Barton had become known as Hawkeye, due to his incredible aim with a bow. Not that Tony would admit the jerk had good aim.

Rhodey rolled his eyes at Tony’s jab at Barton’s moniker. “Guess he has just grown used to your help. Not like he deserves it.”

Tony looked away from his friend. “I suppose. How’s Coulson? Any change?”

Rhodey brightened at this, if only slightly “Well, rumor is he opened his eyes for a grand total of two seconds three days ago. I’m not sure how legit that is, but Barton doesn’t seem to have as large a stick up his ass, so it might be true.”

Tony let out a bark of laughter “Ha! Ain’t that the truth.”

Both friends both looked down. Rhodey seemed about to say something, but his party members wander back in sight, signaling that they were leaving. Rhodey pulled Tony into a hug, before holding him at arm's length “Hey man. Be careful. And know, I’m always gonna be there for you.”

Tony nodded in return, a smile on his features. “I know Rhodey.”

The katana wielder smiled and nodded at him, before patting him on the arm and turning to join his party member. Tony sighed as they disappeared, before turning around to make his way back to his guild.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *in Mushu voice* I LIVE!!!!!  
> Wow, I haven't posted in a LONG time! Happy New Year anyone?  
> This chapter's pretty long, so maybe don't hate me too much?  
> Chapter warnings: Minor Character Death, Suicidal thoughts/attempt

Tony wandered around a bit before rejoining his guild. He loved being with Smash, but sometimes their enthusiasm could often overwhelm him. But he didn’t want to discourage them, so here he was, wandering around a floor that was mostly cleaned out of monsters. He supposed he could find something to kill, but he wasn’t really in the mood for it tonight, fine to just wander with his thoughts. His mind itched to create, to build, to do anything but fight. But that was all he could do to get out, so that’s what he did.

Tony was disturbed from his wandering mind as a mesage icon appeared in his line of sight. He opened reading swiftly over the lines

“Hey. It’s Bruce.   
The rest of us are wondering if you’ve seen Betty? She disappeared and didn’t tell anyone. I’m a little concerned, but she might be with you? Anyway, the rest of us are headed off to the dungeon. Don’t worry, it’s our normal place.”

Betty hadn’t told anyone where she went, not even her boyfriend? Now that might be cause for concern, Tony thought as he stood up from where he’d been sitting. Betty was usually very informative with the rest of what was basically their family. 

Tony pondered while he made his way to the teleportation center on the floor. Once he reached the stairs leading up to the glowing bricks, he looked about for anyone before going into his inventory to select a tracking program, one only offered to high level players. His sight switched into a deep red-orange as it took effect, and he inserted Betty’s player info into the open slot waiting for it. A trail appeared, little footprints leading into the teleportation unit. Tony smiled and stepped into, activating it with a short command. 

He appeared on the floor Smash had been hunting on for the past few weeks, which was no surprise, since it wouldn’t have been like Betty to wander to far from the rest of the group. Tony quickly set out, following the glowing footsteps that led deeper into town. The brunet wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing. 

 

The footsteps eventually lead him to a drainage system for the small river that flowed through the town. He heard some quite snuffles from underneath the overhang of the bridge.

“Betty?” Tony called out, both announcing himself and checking to make sure it was his missing guild member and not someone else. The tracking system could be a bit buggy sometimes. 

“Tony?” A voice called out from underneath and the brunet sighed in relief 

“Ya, it’s me. Do you want me to come down?”

Betty scooted into his line of sight and he startled a little. She was crying, small tear tracks running down her face and glittering under the light of the full moon. 

“Sure.”

Tony nodded and carefully made his way down to her, leaning against the wall as he settled beside her. The small river ran by slowly at their feet, the moonlight glinting off its surface.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone you’d be gone?” Tony asked gently, daring a glance at his guild mate. “Everyone was worried about you.”

Betty shrugged, rubbing the leftover tears from her face. “I figured they would be. But I knew that if I said I’d be gone, someone would have gone with me. I just needed to be alone for a while s’all.”

Tony sighed as he leaned his head back against the wall. “Well, I know what that’s about. Wanna be alone together?”

Betty snorted, rubbing at her face again “Why not. You’re already here.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Tony dared ask another question “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Betty laughed a little and brought her knees up to her chest, pushing up her glassed as she did so. “It’s kind of silly.”

Tony shook his head, wondering if she would think that if she knew the reasons for his own ponderings “Nothing’s silly if you don’t think it is.”

Betty smiled at that, the corners of her mouth lifting up slightly. “Well, it’s just-” she took a breath “I miss the outside world.”

The genius blinked, having expected something else “Is that all?” Betty gave him a look and Tony realized what it must’ve sounded like outloud “Oh no, not like that!” He blushed under her gaze “It’s just, that’s completely normal! When you said it would be silly, I was expecting something, well, silly.”

Betty smiled at him, rubbing at her face again “You think it’s not silly? But you seem like you belong here! I would’ve thought that you of all people wouldn’t have understood.”

The brunet winced slightly at the observation. At least he knew he wasn’t showing any weaknesses, just like good ol dad said he shouldn’t. “Well, can I let you in on a secret?” Tony asked, putting forth a smile tugging at one corner of his lips.

Betty nodded, and Tony leaned close to her “I miss the outside world too.”

She blinked in surprise, her tears completely forgotten “Really?”

The beater nodded “The day I entered SAO, I was going to graduate college the day after.” He plowed over Betty’s startled expression “I loved my lot in life. Sure, I had issues with my dad, but who doesn’t?” he paused, looking over to his fellow guild-mate “I had a life out there.”

Betty was stunned “I-I didn’t know you” She stopped “You were going to graduate college? At what, 19?”

“17 actually” Tony corrected her, flashing his teeth.

She whistled “Wow. That’s amazing Tony!” she looked him up and down “Let me guess, New York State?”

“Nope” Tony replied, popping the ‘p’ “MIT baby”

Betty huffed “You better not be screwing with me”

“Pretty sure that’s Bruce’s job” Tony winked at her.

She snorted and swatted at him and laughing “You my friend, are going to be the death of me”

Tony sobered at that, looking her in the eye “Betty, you’re not gonna die in here. I’ll make sure of that. As long as I live, you live.”

Betty smiled and wrapped an arm around him “Tony, I might just believe you on that. I just might”

 

<<<***>>>

“Tony, you found her!” Bruce came bursting into the common area of the hotel room they had rented out “Good work man!” he then turned to Betty “You can’t scare me like that again!” He reached forward to pull her off the couch and into a hug.

“Oooo, kissy kissy!” Rick said, making a pucker face behind them.

“Come on man, don’t do that!” Jennie said, whacking him over the head.

“Ow!”

Tony smiled at his guild’s antics. He honestly couldn’t believe how he was a solo player for so long, when he’d been missing out on moments like this. He cleared his throat after the team leader and his girl had hugged for awhile, and they broke apart, red creeping up their faces. Tony smiled “So, happy hunting?”

“Oh yeah” Skarr said, giving Rick a high five “We totally dominated”

Bruce smiled and sat next to Tony on the couch. Everyone followed suit until they all had a spot in the tiny living room. “Well,” Bruce began, laying a hand on Betty’s knee “With the new col we’ve gathered, we have enough to buy a flat for us all to share.”

Whoops filled the tiny space and Tony burst into a grin “Really? That’s great! Where will it be?”

Bruce shrugged “Well, I think the Town of Beginnings is our best bet. It’s the best places for the best prices.”

“Yuck, you sound like a slogan line” Rick made a face, putting his hands up “Town of Beginnings, where dreams become reality”

“Well I think it’s a great idea” Betty sniffed, shoving her feet under Bruce’s legs.

“Ha! Because you’re his girlfriend!” Rick received a pillow to the face with that, knocking him off his perch. That started a pillow fight of mass proportions, and Tony smiled from his spot on the couch. These people had grown close to him in a way only Rhodey had. He wouldn’t these people up for anything. Tony’s face fell a little. He would protect them all, no matter what. He had to.

Bruce went off to the Town of Beginnings the next morning, which was filled with animated sunshine and a good feeling. As the last of the teleportation portal disappeared, Rick turned to the rest of the group. 

“Hey, how about we go hunting while he’s off buying our flat? That way, we’d still have lots of col and it’d be a nice surprise for him. We could even go up to a higher floor where bigger cash is!”

Tony nearly choked on his spit at that, though no one seemed to notice

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea!” Jennie said, a finger on her chin. “Unlike most of the ones you have”

Rick was about to respond when Tony cut in, having finally gotten his bearings. “Oh, I don’t know guys. Maybe we should stick to our normal hunting grounds. There are higher level monsters, and traps, and-” he cut off, realizing revealing any more could endanger his position “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Skarr lay a hand on his shoulder “What, you chicken? We’ll be fine.”

“Besides, you can fend off anything Tony” Betty said, fluttering her lashes “It’ll be fine.”

Tony looked at his guild, all of them with eager faces and sighed. He could protect them, that was true. And they would just go without him, making their chances of death soar higher than they already were. “Okay, fine.” He winced a little at the cheers “But don’t blame it on me when Bruce comes back and hears we all went higher up without him!

Everyone laughed and summoned their battle gear, Tony less energetic about it than the others. They all went into the portal two at a time, Betty going last with him. 

“Don’t worry,” she said, placing a hand on his arm “We’ve got high enough levels that we’ll be okay. And I stand by what I said.” She grinned and then abruptly pulled Tony into the portal.

<<<***>>>

“Ha! See Tony? Look at how easy this is!” Jennie said as she sliced through a nasty smelling monster, causing it to burst into code. 

Tony smiled and shook his head “I guess you proved me wrong.” He probably hadn’t needed to be as paranoid as he’d been. The floor they’d chosen hadn’t been to high up from their normal stomping grounds, and they seemed to be doing fine so far. He smiled as an article of clothing appeared before Jennie announcing “Pants of Purple”.

“Aww, these'll be perfect for Bruce!” Betty said, coming up besides her tall guild-mate. 

“Oh yeah!” Rick and Skarr echoed while Tony shook his head. Crazy kids.

It disappeared into the guild treasure box with a not that said “To match your personality, Bruce”. Everyone, even Tony, laughed at this.

“Hey, look!” Skarr said, pointing to a wall which now had an open chamber with a treasure chest sitting inside. “This mob here must have been guarding it!”

Tony looked at it, something itching at his conscience “I don’t know guys, it looks a little too good to be true.”

 

“Worry wort!” Rick shouted before rushing inside and jumping around “See? Nothing.” 

The brunet bit his lip as everyone walked inside, before sighing and following as well. Maybe it was an actual treasure chest. But as soon as he passed the threshold of the door, his senses tingled, and the door disappeared. Tony paled, whipping around at the heavy boom. He took in the sight of the slightly purple bricks, and remembered. This was that floor. The one littered with traps and hidden passageways. How could he have forgotten? This was the floor where Hawkass had saved him with an arrow and Steve had-

He was wrenched into the present at a inquisitory sound from Rick. “My, my teleportation crystal isn’t working. Why isn’t it working?”

Tony’s eyes widened “This is a trap”

Just as he said it, all Hell broke loose. Towering monsters made of stone appeared, along with little mole things carrying pick axes. They had glowing red eyes and sharp teeth. Tony immediately recognized them from the boss battle. This wasn’t good. Everyone backed into a circle, weapons raised. But before they could do anything, Skarr was struck across the front by two of the rock monsters before shattering into code. 

“SKARR!” Rick shouted before jumping at the monsters, weapons raised. Tony moved, but wasn’t fast enough, as a little mole thing swung and connected with Rick’s chest, bursting him into tiny little pieces of code.

NO NO NO NONONONONONONO!, Tony thought in a panic as he looked at the rest of his guild, everyone now stranded on their own. He rushed forward to try and reach the surviving members of his guild, beut was blocked by the monsters. He swung and destroyed it, and another one took its place. Jennie’s scream echoed around the chamber as she burst into code. 

“BETTY!” he shouted, slicing with his sword as fast as he could “BETTY!”

“TONY!” He heard from behind him. Tony turned and met her eyes just before she burst into code. They had been filled with terror.

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!” he screamed, spinning and taking out the monsters in his closest vicinity. He slammed through the rest of the mob in a fury, not noticing his health drop or the door begin to open a little. All he could see was red and his guild-mate’s eyes and-

He over swung and landed on his knees, panting. He looked up and saw a ‘Room defeated’ sign hanging above his head, and the door open once more. Before he could do anything, the money, of which he glimpsed a lot of, flowed into his inventory. He looked around. He was alone. He sank to the floor, slamming a fist against it and screaming as tears began to stream down his face. They were dead, and it was all his fault.

<<<***>>>

 

Tony teleported out of that room long after everyone was dead. He could still hear their screams as he walked down a street in the Town of Beginnings. What was he going to tell Bruce? He continued walking down the street, following it until it came to the real estate place near the edge of the world. Bruce said he would be here, so Tony sat next to the door until he came out, papers disappearing into his inventory as he opened the door. 

“Tony!” Bruce said as soon as he noticed the brunet sitting by the door. “What are you doing here? I thought you would have been hunting with the others.”

Tony flinched at the word hunting “Bruce…”

The scientist looked at his face closely, noticing the tear tracks the beater had forgotten to wipe away “Why aren’t you with the others?”

Tony stood up slowly, not knowing what to do with his hands. “Bruce, we were hunting. We were hunting higher up.” Bruce narrowed his eyes, and Tony pushed forward “We, i-it was going fine. We were doing fine. But then…”

Bruce widened his eyes “Tony, where is everyone else?”

Tony couldn’t help the sob that bubbled out from the pit of his stomach. It was either that or submit to the hysteria he knew was starting to set in. 

Bruce backed away from him, placing his hands on the wall keeping people from falling off the world. Tony closed his eyes, holding them that way until he felt almost able to talk. “Bruce, I couldn’t save them.”

Bruce turned to look at him, horror filling his eyes. Just like Betty, Tony’s mind supplied wretchedly. “What do you mean?”

Tony blinked as tears gathered in his eyes. “They, Bruce, they died” he gagged on the last word, and Bruce gasped, tears falling from his own eyes. Then, without warning, Bruce climbed onto the wall. Tony’s body realized what he was doing before his mind, and he rushed forward, grabbing Bruce just as he jumped. 

There was a terrifying moment when Tony wasn’t sure if he could lift Bruce back over from his vantage point, sure the weight would drag them both down, but then Tony pulled up as hard as he could and Bruce landed safe and sound back on solid ground. Bruce just looked at him, before bursting into tears, which caused Tony’s own to fall. They lay against the wall keeping firm line between life and death, and held onto each other, allowing the grief to wash over them without relief. 

<<<***>>>

They sat in chairs opposite one another in their new house, which was already filled with the echos of their dead guild members, even though they hadn’t even been to the flat yet. Tony sat with his elbows on his knees and hands clasped, while Bruce lay curled around Betty’s sword, which they found had gone into the team inventory, as well as everyone else’s belongings. The curly-haired former guild leader sat quietly and listened as Tony explained his entire story. About being a beater. About lying about his player level. And about how they had all died. At the end of the story, Bruce startled at the silence which set in to take the place of Tony’s voice.

“So,” Bruce said, eyes red “So could you have saved them?”

Tony looked down at his clasped hands “I don’t know. I should have recognized the floor, and I should have recognized the trap. That was entirely my fault.” Neither of them said anything about Bruce’s attempt on his own life, and an awkward silence stretched on until Bruce cleared his throat.

“This must’ve been sent right before they died.” An icon showed up. ‘Pant’s of Purple’. Tony winced at the sight of them.

“They thought you’d like them. Jennie got it from the mob guarding the trap room.”

Bruce nodded and blinked away tears gathering in his eyes, before clicking the ‘accept’ button. The pants flashed onto him, matching nicely with his forest green shirt. He rubbed at them, before looking at Tony, an unidentifiable expression in his eyes.

“I need you to leave”

Tony stiffened at the words. “Bruce-”

“No, Tony” he said, standing up “Just no, okay? I need space. I need time. I need to be away from you, who lied to us all, for a while. I just need time.” he sobbed at this, covering his face with his hands and turning around. “I’ll message you when I can look at you again. But for now, Smash is officially disbanded.”He pulled up the guild options only available to a leader and hit the ‘End’ button. Tony blinked and looked into the corner of his vision.

‘SOLO PLAYER’ it read, and Tony nearly screamed, the weight of it all nearly taking him under the sea of despair he was barely floating at the top of. Instead he breathed deep and let it out slow. “Where will you go?”

Bruce didn’t look at him “I’m not gonna kill myself, if that’s what you’re asking” he said darkly “guess that ship has already sailed. No, I think I’m gonna stay right here for a while.” the silence stretched on again before Bruce turned to look at him. “You can keep the winnings you earned from their death room. I want nothing to do with them.”

Tony stood up “Bruce, I”

Bruce cut him off with the flip of the table sitting between them. Tony stepped back, surprised at the show of anger from the usually level headed man. Bruce didn’t look at him. “I need time, Tony.”

What could Tony do but nod and back away? So that’s what he did. He hesitated at the door, before calling out to Bruce “I’ll see you around?”

“I’ll see you around.”

Tony nodded, and with that, closed the door to that part of his life for, from what he could tell, forever.

<<<***>>>

“Hey man, what’s up”

Tony startled as a man came to sit beside him in the bar. He relaxed as soon as he recognized Rhodey, his best friend in a new getup, though his katana still hung at his hip.

“Rhodey. Hey.” Tony looked at the drink in his hands. “How’ve you been?”

Rhodey shrugged and flagged down the bartender. “Meh, I’ve been alright. SHIELD definitely keeps me on my toes though. I haven’t had the same strike party as long as I’ve been there, and they keep changing it on me!” he sighed “I’ll have what he’s having” he said to the bartender before stretching and taking a close look at Tony. “Hey man, you solo again? I thought you really liked those Smash guys.”

Tony winced at the mention of his old guild. It had been two months since that horrible day, and he still hadn’t heard from Bruce. “Oh, well…”

Rhodey straightened up and turned to look at the genius, who shrunk slightly under his gaze. Then Rhodey outstretched his arms and Tony gratefully fell into them, hiding his face in the crook of Rhodey’s neck. “It was all my fault, Rhodey. They died, and it was all my fault.”

Rhodey stroked Tony’s hair. “Tony, I don’t believe that for a second. Now tell me what actually happened.”

Tony sniffed and recounted the gruesome story of Smash, of how Betty had been scared of dieing and how he’d promised to protect her, of how they were going to have a house of their own, of how he had let them go into that trap room, to cocky for his own good. He even told him about Bruce, because when could he ever keep secrets from Rhodey? By the end of the story, the bar had mostly cleared out and they were pretty much alone, except for a few late night makeout sessions. 

“Tony, there was nothing you could have done” Rhodey finally said, after processing it all. They had moved to a couch by the fire, which was producing a soft light into the bar. 

“How can you know? You know what I am. I could have done something!” Tony replied, staring into the fire.

“Well, I know for a fact you saved Bruce.” Rhodey said, nudging his shoulder softly “And I’m sure he’ll come ‘round. He did lose his girlfriend.” 

Tony sighed and closed his eyes. “Who knows.” he then tried to put on a brave face and turned to Rhodey “So, my life sucks, but how’s the front lines? I haven’t been following them too closely.”

Rhodey shrugged and went along with the change of subject “Oh, you know, one floor at a time. We’re stalled with this latest boss. He’s a doozy to find. Almost as bad as that first one.”

Tony blinked. “Oh. How long has the search been going on?”

The katana wielder groaned and lay back “Too long! It’s ridiculous! But good news” he made eye contact with Tony “Coulson woke up a few days ago.”

“What? Really” The brunet almost couldn’t believe it. “How is he?”

“Oh, he’s all geared up to join the fight. Clint’s had to restrain him to leveling up, since he’s still at the same place as he was when he almost died, on the first floor” Rhodey shuddered “It’s like watching an unstoppable force meet an immovable object.”

Tony smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. “Now that must be a sight to see.”

“Oh it is.” Rhodey leaned forward and lay a hand on Tony’s shoulder “You could witness it yourself, if you wanted to. Shield's always open to new recruits.”

Flashes of Betty’s cry as she died echoed through Tony’s mind, and he shook his head. “Nah, it’s cool. I think I work best alone anyway.”

Rhodey nodded and leaned back again “If that’s what you feel most comfortable with, then I’ll support you. You know just say the word, and it’s us against the world.”

Tony wrinkled his nose “Taylor Swift lyrics? Really?”

Rhodey shrugged, smiling “What can I say? I’m a romantic.”

<<<***>>>

Christmas was coming around, the first one in the game. The surroundings would actually be quite beautiful and festive, if you forgot where you where. Tony sighed and pulled the collar of his trenchcoat closer to his neck to stave off the cold wind blowing snow into swirls around him. Tonight was the night. December 24th. He’d gotten information from various info brokers, all similar in details. An event boss was to appear, Nicholas the Renegade. No one knew where, though Tony had an idea. The rumor was that if you beat the boss, he would drop an item. And not just any item. A revival item. Now even Tony knew this was a long shot. But if it was true, and there was a way to revive a dead player, then it was a risk he was willing to take. He looked up at the town clock. Nearly midnight. 

Tony stood up from where he’d been sitting, a little bench that was covered with snow. He pulled out his sword and headed into the forest, going for the tree he was sure Evil Santa would appear. He walked into the clearing just as a portal opened up, a guild stumbling through. Tony wasn’t sure what he felt when he saw Clint step out with his bow raised, followed by Coulson, Natasha, Thor, and Rhodey.

They looked surprised to see him, though Rhodey instantly gave him a look that was patented ‘dont-do-it’ through and through. Tony just shrugged and turned to the rest of the party.

“Coulson. You’re looking very well off. It’s good to see you in one piece.” Tony said, laying a hand on the sword strapped to his back. 

Coulson smiled and nodded “I hear it’s all thanks to you.”

Tony shrugged “I did what anyone would have done”

Coulson shook his head “Nice try, but thank you. I was hoping I would run into you sometime soon.”

“Hate to cut this short, but looks like time’s almost here” Natasha said, not sounding at all impressed with Tony. “I suggest we get ready.”

“So, you’re hear for the revival item too?” Tony shifted “Well that could be a problem.”

Rhodey shook his head “Tony, don’t you dare try and do this alone. You could join with us, whoever gets it to drop keeps it. That’s fair isn’t it?”

Tony looked at his best friend, defeat clear in his gaze. “You know why I need to do this, Rhodey. I have to have it. Maybe then…”

“Pu-lease, like you have anyone you need to save.” Clint said, glaring at him. 

“Clint, don’t” Coulson said, a hand up. “Tony-”

He was cut off as another portal opened, a guild in green with a sprawling octopus-skull thing ran out, weapons raised. 

“Hydra. Seriously?” Natasha shook her head, drawing out her knives. “These crooks? Now what?”

Rhodey gave Tony a sad look before turning to face the new guild. “Tony, if you go now, you’ll make it”

“What?” Clint said in disbelief “What are you talking about Rhodes?” 

Rhodey turned to Clint “Man, get your head out of your ass. These Hydra guys are gonna get the item if we don’t stop them. I’d chose Tony having it over these guys any day.”

“Rhodes is right, Clint” Coulson said “I don’t care what your made up beef with Tony is, but we need to deal with the problem at hand.”

“I say Hydra” Thor spoke out, eyeing the other guild. “We know these guys are real, vs some possible bogus thing in the woods.”

Hydra got tired of them talking and started walking forward, weapons raised. Coulson smiled slightly, and hefted his sword. “Tony, you go. We’ll get this.”

The clock struck its first chime to midnight, and Tony nodded, before turning around and running into the forest, ignoring the sounds of a battle starting behind him. He came to a clearing with a huge tree in it, where, as soon as the last chime rang out, a large, half-dead looking Santa Claus appeared, roaring into the sky. An opaque barrier appeared, sealing the clearing. No one could get in or out. Tony looked up at the ugly event boss and nodded. It was better this way.

“Let’s do this.” He muttered, before charging forward with and active sword skill giving him a speed boost. He slashed everywhere he could reach on the first hit, drawing out lines all over the boss’s body. It roared again, only this time in pain. Strange, Tony thought, setting up for another attack, someone programed this whole thing, and if those zeros and ones die it doesn’t matter, they do, then it matters. So much. He lunged forward again, striking once more all along the boss’s left side. He continued to do this, dodging and weaving as the boss attacked, then retaliating with his own sword again and again. Then, the beast’s health bar dropped completely at last, and it exploded into millions of little blue triangles. Tony had to blink away the sight of Jennie’s code as it floated into the sky. It had been blue as well. 

In the snow in front of him lay a little Christmas Tree bauble. It pulsed slightly, emitting a soft glow. Tony landed on his knees in front of it, carefully picking it up. He clicked on the item info, skimming the small paragraph, before nearly throwing it away in disgust.

“Tony!” Rhodey called from behind him, and the brunet sighed, before standing up and turning around. The rest of Rhodey’s party was behind him, all of them panting slightly. Tony looked at the bauble, before tossing it to his best friend. 

Rhodey caught it and clicked on the information, reading it outloud. “Must be administered to affected player in…..ten seconds?”

Tony shrugged “I should've known. You can’t exactly bring someone back from the dead after their brain’s been melted by a bunch of microwaves.”

Rhodey walked forward, placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Tony, I’m sorry. I really wanted this to work out for you.”

The rest of the group behind them all wore confused expressions. Tony nodded and looked at his hands. “Yeah well, I’m Tony Stark. Pretty sure the universe doesn’t want me to be okay.”

“Screw the universe” Rhodey said, before turning around and walking over to Coulson to hand the bauble to him. “Here, this will probably be worth quite a lot to SHIELD. If you’d be so kind as to switch my status to ‘inactive’ for the time being, that be great.”

Tony shook his head “Rhodey, you don’t need to-”

“But I want to” he said, looking back to flash a smile “You need me more than these knuckleheads.”

“Hmm, debatable” Coulson said, wearing a longsuffering expression. “But probably true. Consider it done, Jim.”

Rhodey nodded and walked back to Tony. “Come on, let’s go.”

Tony nodded, grateful beyond measure to his friend. They walked out of the clearing, and the rest of Coulson’s party parted ways before them, not saying a word. And they walked out into the snowy forest, Rhodey leading the way. They soon got to the place Tony had been staying at, heading into his room. Tony sat in a chair while Rhodey sat cross-legged on the bed. Tony could feel his best friend’s eyes on him, but he didn’t say anything.

Rhodey broke first, sighing and laying back on the bed “So, wanna talk about it?”

Tony shrugged “Not particularly”

Rhodey nodded “Okay. I’m here as soon as you do want to talk about it”

Rhodey didn’t have to wait to long though, because Tony knew he could trust Rhodey, even when he couldn’t trust anyone else. “I still feel guilty about it.”

His best friend raised an eyebrow at him “So that’s why you’ve been so reckless with your level ups? You may be one of the highest level players in the entire game, but you’ve got to be more careful.”

Tony nodded “You’re probably right”

They sat for a bit. “You know, if I was any one of your guild members, I’d want you to let this go.” Rhodey said, sitting back up “You need to keep living, if only for them. Don’t let their memory die, Tony.”

Tony shook his head “But it was my fault” he felt a sob built up but held it back, because Stark men don’t cry. 

Rhodey just shook his head. "I disagree."

Silence filled the room for a bit, until a little message appeared in Tony's line of sight. He narrowed his eyes at it, before clicking it open. It was a video. Tony looked at Rhodey, who just shrugged and gestured for him to play it. Tony looked back down at the video file in his hands, before carefully pushing play. He gasped as it was projected into the air, because on the video was Betty.

"Hi Tony! If you're getting this message, then I'm dead. Don't worry, I'm not haunting you. It's just, after our conversation under the bridge, it seemed like you had the entire world on your shoulders. I just want you to know that my death isn't one of them." She paused in the video, seeming to take a breath "I don't care if I literally fell on your sword because you were running through the house with it. I don't blame you. You're a really nice guy, and I'm so glad to have known you. I know for a fact that everyone in our guild agrees." She leaned forward a little, as if sharing a secret "And by the way, I know about your crazy high player level" 

Tony gasped, not being able to hold it in. The video continued "See, I saw it when I leaned over under the bridge. Oops! Don't worry, I didn't tel anyone, not even Bruce. I don't know why you kept it a secret, but you did, and it's your secret to keep. Rest easy." She giggled a little before continuing. "Look, I don't want my death to affect you permanently. Grieve for me, then move on. Promise me you'll keep living. Live long enough to graduate from MIT, suma cum laude, because that's what you deserve. I'm grateful I had a friend like you Tony." Some noise went off in the background and Betty smiled "I should go. Have a good life Tony!"

And with that the video ended. Tony was stunned. Completely and utterly stunned. And her words, it was almost as if a weight had been lifted off his chest, because he could finally breathe again. 

"See, what did I tell you." Rhodey said, smiling widely "It wasn't your fault. Now blow out that candle. I can't sleep with the light on."

Tony nodded and stood up, putting out the candle before slipping into the bed. And laying next to his brother in everything but blood, with Betty's words echoing through his mind, he had the best sleep he'd had in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? Good? Bad? Ugly? Thoughts?   
> I'll try to be better at posting, because no one likes an author who takes forever to get new material out. 
> 
> Also, I'm looking for a beta tester. Any thoughts?
> 
> Till next time!  
> ~E

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and critic is most welcome here.


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